No Hike For Connecticut Water Co. For 7th Year

January 21, 1997|By STACY WONG; Courant Staff Writer

CLINTON — The 1990s have generally been good for the customers of the Clinton-based Connecticut Water Co.

The company has announced that it will not seek a rate increase this year, the seventh consecutive year it has kept rates level. The company's last rate request was in 1990, for an increase that went into effect in March 1991.

The company credits its expanded customer base, refinanced lower debt, and increased automation in its offices and at treatment and distribution facilities. The company also has fewer employees than it did during portions of the 1980s.

In a prepared statement, company President Marshall T. Chiaraluce said rates have remained stable despite increases in taxes, utilities and office supplies.

``The Connecticut Water Company is the only major Connecticut utility that has not sought a rate increase over the past seven years and we will continue to do everything possible to avoid a rate increase for as long as possible,'' he said.

The company has about 62,000 customers in 32 Connecticut towns, including Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Guilford, Madison, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook.

The company also serves municipalities in the Naugatuck region in western Connecticut, as well as towns in eastern and northern Connecticut, such as Bolton, Coventry, East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Somers, South Windsor, Stafford, Suffield, Tolland, Vernon and Windsor Locks.